“What happens is that our board examines the score based on how well we met our corporate performance and service goals to our members,” USAA spokesman Brad Lehman said.

So why was there an ever so slight difference in the bonuses for the two years?

“That's something that the board decides based on our overall performance,” Lehman said.

The amount of the bonus was announced by USAA board Chairman Lester Lyles at a meeting with employees. He is a retired Air Force general who spent a large part of his career as a rocket engineer and scientist.

“It takes a secret sauce to have an organization like this, and you don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that secret sauce is people,” Lyles said in addressing employees. “It's all of you — all 26,000 members of the USAA family.”

An excerpt of Lyles' remarks were emailed to the Express-News.

While the size of the bonus might have been a mystery before Lyles' announcement, the bonus itself wasn't any surprise.

After all, as Lehman noted, “our bonus is part of our payment structure. Our employees know (it) is going to be part of their compensation.” He added that the bonuses are awarded at the discretion of the board.

The bonus goes to all eligible employees, Lehman said, adding he wasn't aware of a different bonus structure for executives.

Clearly, though, there's a different reward program for USAA's top brass.

USAA CEO and President Joe Robles Jr. pocketed at least $5.29 million in compensation in 2012, according to figures reported to the Nebraska Department of Insurance. The compensation is just from USAA's insurance side and does not include anything Robles may have earned from its banking and investment businesses.

Just more than half of the $5.29 million — or almost $2.8 million — was paid in bonuses.

Under the bonus program for employees, a staffer who has a $50,000 annual base salary will receive a $9,350 bonus.

More than 16,000 of USAA's employees work in San Antonio, making it one of the city's largest private employers.

Last year, the company announced plans to add 3,500 positions in four markets — San Antonio, Phoenix, Tampa and the Dallas area — by the end of 2015. As many as 1,000 jobs could be created in San Antonio.

“We're well on our way” to meeting the hiring goal, Lehman said.

USAA has about 10 million customers, comprised of military members, veterans and their spouses.

USAA paid a record $1.5 billion in distributions, dividends and bank rebates and rewards last year to its customers, Lehman said. That was up from $1.3 billion in 2012.